You will now receive updates fromBreaking News Alert

Breaking News Alert

A state of disaster in the country of nearly 200,000 people was declared after Evan swept in from the Pacific and hit Apia on the main island Upolu on Thursday.

The cyclone brought widespread flooding, destroyed houses and crops, and blocked roads with trees and toppled power poles.

Mr Hurley said trees and power poles that were swept into Vaisigano River had an "amazing destruction force".

Up to 3000 people have sought refuge from flooding in emergency shelters in Apia and scores of tourists have been evacuated from coastal resorts to higher ground.

Electricity was cut to most areas of Samoa, but was expected to be restored to Apia's central business district later on Saturday. Other areas will have to wait up to two months before power can be restored.

A water treatment plant has also been destroyed.

Mr Hurley says New Zealand's involvement in the recovery will be decided in the coming days.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully earlier said New Zealand was ready to help.

The category four storm is expected to hit Fiji on Sunday and Fiji's Ministry of Social Development is warning residents to prepare for a major weather event. The cyclone, which is intensifying, is expected to hit northern parts of Tonga on Saturday.

The main providers of Australian flights to and from Fiji – Virgin, Jetstar and Air Pacific – said no flights in or out of Fiji had yet been cancelled as a result of the Cyclone.

Virgin has four Australian flights to and from Fiji on Sunday and three on Monday.

‘‘The advice we’ve had is that late Sunday it might cause a disruption,’’ said Virgin spokeswoman Emma Copeman.

‘‘We’ll decide what happens and from that point we’ll decide whether we need to make some cancellations. We’ll make a decision on Sunday morning based on the latest update.’’

A spokesman for Jetstar said the airline had one flight from Fiji to Australia on Monday.

‘‘At the moment we’re keeping a close eye on the cyclone,’’ he said. ‘‘At this stage we’ve got a flight out of there on Monday and we’ll keep an eye on that over the next 24 to 48 hours.’’

A spokesman for Air Pacific, Peter O’Sullivan, said that ‘‘no Air Pacific flights from Australia to Fiji have been cancelled or delayed as a result of Tropical Cyclone Evan, which is currently not expected to pass near the country until Monday.

‘‘The only flights impacted as a result of this tropical storm thus far were flights to/from Apia, Samoa which were cancelled on Friday until the cyclone passed. Those flights will resume again on Sunday.’’

He said Air Pacific would closely monitor the cyclone and advise passengers of any changes.